Device for releasing an article from a space traversing object



Unite DEVICE FOR RELEASING AN ARTICLE FRM A SPACE TRAVERSING OBJECT The* invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes' without the payment ofany royalty thereon.

My invention relates, broadly, to a device for releasing an article from a space traversing object. Although not limited solely thereto, my invention relates, particularly, to a device for releasing an article such as a bomb from a space traversing object such as an airplane. At the present time, there is great need for such a device which is small in size, light in weight, and strong, and which comprises but a small number of elements and is simply, yetlefiectively, constructedV and operated.

Prior art devices of this nature, although workable, are unnecessarily bulky and ponderous, comprise a needless multiplicity of components, are excessively complicated to` manufacture and tobperate, and; are made inv such manner that exposed parts are unduly subject to abuse and accidental. damage. Thepresent device. will.` be found to` be moreV in conformity with present-day requirements. As the description thereof proceeds, it will become apparenti toV those skilled in the art that I have introduced tothe art` concepts notheretofore known or' used.

In essence, my invention comprises two tubular members: one, the outer member, is closed at one end'and is adapted for mounting inthe spaceV traversing object; the other, the inner member, slidably fits concentrically with in. the]` outer member andV is adapted for attachment at one end= to the articleto be released.

Under certain conditions, the inner member is pre vented from moving axially relative to the outer member, thereby barringv release of the article fromfthel space traversing object; and, at a selectable time, under other conditions, the inner member is free to-f move axially out of the: outer'member thereby allowing the article to be releasedv from the space traversing` object. This prevention of the` inner members axialmovement is eiected by aphrralityof detents which project radially beyond the inner members` exterior surface into engagement with an accommodating recess` in the outer members interior surface', These detents are held in place by a selectively releasable' keeper. The inner member is rendered' free to move axially out of the outer member by movement of the:Y keeper so as' to allow the innerl members' detents to come" out of engagement with the outer member.

Movement of the' keeper to allowY the inner members defeats to become disengagedfrom` the outer member may be accomplished in one of two manners: first, by manual or automatic mechanical movement; second, by movement resulting from detonaton of an explosive cartridge contained within the releasing device. In the first-named manner, release of the inner member from the outer member (and consequent release of the article attached to thenner merr'iberV from the space traversing object` in which-the outer member is mounted) is accomplished by action of. the force of. gravity. In the second-named manf nerrelease of thearticle is accomplished by action of the gases resulting from detonation of the explosive cartridge States Patent O so that the article is forcibly ejected from the space traversing object.

My invention could also be used to great advantage in many instances where it is desirable to release rapidly struts or other structural members in preparationl for emergency exit as from an airplane or other vehicle. In the past, explosive bolts, rivets, or other explosively destructible members have been used, but suchdevices are very dangerous. On the other hand, however, my device is not self-destructing and could be used repeatedly.

Broadly stated', then, one object of my` invention isv to Vprovide a small, strong, light-weight device for releasing an article from a space traversing object.

Another object is to provide a device of the character mentioned which comprises a minimum number of: elements and is easy to construct and to operate.

A further object is to provide a releasing devicewhose most vulnerable components are less exposed to abuse and accidental damage.

A still further object isV to provide a releasing device capable of operation by force. of gravity and by forcible eiection of the article from the space traversing object.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of my invention will become apparent from an inspection ofthe following description and the accompanying drawings which describe and show, respectively, one embodiment of, my inventiony which has been mountedin an airplane for the purpose of releasing a bomb therefrom.` It must be understood however, that my. invention may exist in other forms for mounting in other space traversing-ob jects, and it may be employed for other purposes-than releasinga bomb. Y Y

inthe drawings: t i

Fig. l` is a side View of my'releasing device mounted` in a representative aiiplane for the purpose of releasing a representative bomb therefrom.V For convenience, part. of the airplaneand partv ofthel bomb have been broken away to exposethe device;y v

Fig. 2 is a partial vertical cross section of my releasing device showingprimarily, the unlocked relationship exist'- ing between the outer tube which ismounted. in the air plane, and the inner tube which is attached tothe bomb: The relationship betweenthe tubes here shown exists-during the loading of the bomb-into the releasing deviceand also during subsequent release ofl theV bomb from the airplane, Later descriptionwill elucidate further upon this view; and

Fig. 2A isa vertical cross section of my releasing "device showing, especially, how the outer and inner tubes thereof areprevented from moving axially in relationship to each other.

Outer tube As shown 4in Fig.` 1, the releasing device 5 is mounted in any convenient manner man airplane 6. Thebasiov structural member of this releasing device is the` outer tube 7 having the mounting plate 8 through` whichthe outer tube is secured to the airplane. rl`he juncture be tween the outer tube and the mounting plate is strengtherred by the ribs 9. The releasing device is mounted in the airplane softhat the open end 10 of the outer tube is down wardy (i. e. towardithe bottom of the drawing sheet).

Slidably supported within. the outer tubefor axial movement relative thereto is the spindle assembly 12 which willv now be described. y

Spindle assembly l A Thel spindle assembly is supported in the outer tube, at-one lend, by the capv` 13 which issecured to. and closes.- one end of thev outer tube, and, at the other end,- by

the bulkhead 14 (,see Fig. 2A) which is also attached. in any convenient manner (not shown) to the outer tube..

As shown in that ligure, the bulkhead partitions outer tube 7 into two compartments which are connected only by the bleeder ports 15. This bulkhead is located as far as possible from cap 13 so that the bulkhead can serve, primarily, to help dene a minimum space in which there is to be conned -gas pressure resulting from later detonation of an explosive cartridge within the device. This use of the bulkhead is advantageous in that it permits minimization of the explosive cartridges size, yet allows maximum beneiit to be obtained from the gas pressure generated after detonation thereof.

The basic element of the spindle assembly, from the standpoint of construction, is the hollow rod 18. This rod is externally threaded at both ends for the attachment thereto, at one end of the knob 19 and at the opposite end, for attachment thereto of the keeper 20. Knob 19 is secured in place on rod 18 by means of the set screw 21; and keeper 20 is secured in place on the rod by similar means (not shown).

Keeper comprises the body portion 22 which is provided, at one end, with the flange 23 and, at the opposite end, with the chamfer 24. The body portion is slidably accommodated concentrically within one end of the inner tube 25, later to be described; and the flange is Slidably accommodated within outer tube 7.

As shown in Fig. 2A, knob 19 is constantly urged against cap 13, and keeper 20 is constantly urged away from bulkhead 14 by means of the spring 26, one end of which abuts the bulkhead, and the other end of which abuts the keeper.

Secured to the end surface of keeper 20 is the hermetically sealed, explosive cartridge 28 which is held in place thereon by the retaining ring 29. This ring, as the drawings show, is fastened to the keeper by means of the screws 30.

Slidably accommodated for axial movement within hollow rod 18 is the tiring pin 33 (see Figs. 2 and 2A). As shown in Fig. 2A, this pin is constantly urged toward explosive cartridge 28, to detonate same, by means of the spring 34 accommodated in the recess 35 lwithin rod 18. One end of this spring bears against the plate 36, secured to knob 19 in any convenient manner (not shown), and the other end of the spring bears against the pin 37 which passes through the iring pin and projects suciently far therefrom into recess 35 to furnish a means of attaching the spring to the pin. Movement of the firing pin toward the explosive charge 1s prevented by the safety pin 38 which transiixes the rmg pin. However, this safety pin is selectively removable, by manual or automatic means (not shown), from the firing pin to allow such movement to occur when desired.

Inner tube The last principal structural member of my releasing device is inner tube 25, earlier mentioned. This tube is secured, at one end, in any convenient manner (not shown) to the bomb 40. In the present instance, inner tube 25, for aerodynamic reasons, s secured to the bottom of the recess 41 located in the bombs lateral wall surface and is somewhat less in length than that recesss depth.

Located in the inner tubes wall near its free end 42 are the spherical detents 43. These detents are somewhat larger in diameter than the inner tubes wall thickness so as to be able to project an appreciable distance radially from that tubes interior or exterior surfaces depending upon the relative position axially between the inner and outer tubes, and depending upon the position of the keeper relative to the inner tubes free end. More will be said about this condition later.

InV the illustrative embodiment two spherical detents have been shown. However, those skilled in the art will understand that any convenient number may be employed depending upon the stresses and strains` encountered.

Loading of releasing device In order to load bomb 40 into my releasing device 5, the inner tubes free end 42 is inserted into the outer tubes open end 10, and the missile is moved so that the inner tube moves axially toward the outer tubes closed end. It can be seen from Fig. 2 that, when the inner tube is placed within the outer tube sufficiently far, spherical detents 43 would be caused by the outer tubes interior surface to project part way inside the inner tubes interior surface. Therefore, as the insertion of the inner tube into the outer tube is continued, the spherical detents contact keeper 20 (see Fig. 2) and move that member in the same direction axially as the inner tube is moving. As soon as the spherical detents are aligned with the detent groove 46 in the outer tube, spring 26, constantly pushing keeper 20 toward the outer tubes open end, causes the keepers chamfer 24 to push the detents radially outward into the groove. When the detents are in the groove, they no longer project from the inner tubes interior surface, so keeper 20 is moved past the detents, thereby preventing them from coming out of engagement with the outer tube. This condition thus prevents relative axial movement between the inner and outer tubes.

Also during the loading process, outer tube 7 enters the bombs recess 41 until the torque lug 47 located within the bombs recess engages the accommodating opening 48 in the outer tubes open end 10. Engagement between Athese two parts prevents the bomb from pin wheeling (i. e. turning about the releasing devices axis) while the airplane is in ight.

Operation Having described the essential details of the components of my releasing device, the manner of mounting the device in the airplane, and the manner of loading the bomb into the device, the operation thereof will be described.

As earlier mentioned, my device is rendered operative to effect release of the bomb from the airplane in one of two optional manners: by manual or automatic movement of keeper 20, or by movement of the keeper by gas pressure resulting from ignition of explosive cartridge 28. To release the bomb in the rst-named manner, knob 19 is pulled away from cap 13. This action, through rod 18, moves keeper 20 axially out the inner tubes free end 42 away from that tubes spherical detents 43. This movement, especially when rapid, is facilitated by the bulkheads bleeder ports 15 which prevent air from being trapped between the bulkhead and the' keeper. When the keeper has moved suiciently far (see Fig. 2), it no longer retains the detents in the outer tubes detent groove 46. Therefore, the detents are free to move radially inward toward the inner tubes axis so that they no longer project beyond the inner tubes exterior surface, and no longer prevent that tube from moving axially out the outer tubes open end 10. As a result, the force of gravity, constantly acting on bomb 40 and inner tube 25 attached thereto to pull them downward, causes the detent groove to cam the detents radially inward. After the detents are disengaged fromV detent groove 46, the bomb and the inner tube fall away from outer tube 7 mounted in the airplane (see Fig. 2 which shows same axial displacement between the inner and outer tubes).

To release the bomb through ignition of explosive cartridge 28, safety pin 38 is manually or automatically (by means not shown) removed from firing pin 33. After that, spring 34 acting against xed plate 36 and pin 37, energetically moves the ring pin against the explosive cartridge with sufficient force to cause the cartridges detonation. Although use of a percusion-type explosive cartridge has been explained, those skilled in the art realize that an electrically detonatable cartridge could also be employed with equal facility. Rapidly expanding gas pressure resulting from detonation of the cartridge blows open the cartridges casing and lills the space within inner tube 25. As the gas expands, keeper 20 is moved out the inner tubesopen end away from that tubes spherical detents in the same manner earlier described. Subsequent action from this point on is similar to that earlier described and so it need not be repeated. In distinction to that manner of operation, however, operation of my device through ignition of the explosive cartridge is practically instantaneous and provides for forcible ejection of the bomb from the airplane. This forcible ejection also is accomplished by the gas resulting from ignition of the explosive cartridges powder charge in the following manner. From Fig. 2A it is apparent that keeper 20 can move only until it abuts bulkhead 14. For reasons of eiciency, i. e. in order 'to conserve the energy supplied by the powder charge for maximizing the ejection force, this distance is kept to a minimum consistent with release of the inner tubes detents 43 from the outer tubes detent groove 46. After movement of the keeper, continued expansion of the gas within the inner tube, particularly that acting in an axial direction between the now immobile keeper and the bottom of the missiles recess, forces the missile and the inner tube attached thereto axially away from the outer tube fixed in the airplane.

' From the foregoing it'will be apparent to those skilled in the art that I have provided a small, strong, light-weight means for releasing an article from a space traversing object; that I have-provided a releasing device comprising a minimum number of elements which is easy to construct and to operate; that I have provided a releasing device whose most vulnerable components are protected from exposure to abuse and accidental damage; and that I have provided a releasing device capable of operation in two optional manners, one of which provides for forcible ejection of the article from the space traversing object.

Although I have described and illustrated my invention as applied to an airplane for the purpose of releasing a missile therefrom, it must be emphasized that the preceding description and the accompanying illustration have been chosen for demonstration only. Actually, many modified and varied embodiments and applications of my invention are possible without departing from its original spirit and scope. For that reason, I do not wish to be limited in coverage to the narrow contines inherent in the illustrative embodiment previously described and illustrated but rather only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.

I claim: v

1. A device providing for the release of an article from an airplane, comprising: an external tube substantially closed at one end, but open at the opposite end, and adapted for mounting in the airplane; a bulkhead inside said external tube so as to partition it into two selectively sized compartments, said bulkhead having a bleeder opening therethrough forming a passageway between the compartments; an internal tube slidably fitting inside said external tube through that tubes open end with the formers trailing end attached to the article to be released from the airplane; a plurality of spherical detents in said internal tubes wall near its leading end inside said external tube, said spherical detents projecting from said internal tubes exterior surface into selectively releasable engagement with said external tubes interior surface; a

rod slidably extending through said external tubes closed end and through said bulkhead; a knob connected to one end of said rod outside said external tubes closed end; a keeper connected to the other end of said rod, said keeper being slidably accommodated within said interior tube to contain said spherical detents in engagement with said external tube and thereby prevent relative axial movement between said internal and external tubes and resultant release of the article from the airplane, but further being selectively positionable by movement of said knob away from said external tubes closed end to permit said spherical detents to become disengaged from said external n tube and thereby allow relative axial movement between said internal and external tubes so as to release the article from the airplane; an explosive cartridge mounted within one of the compartments formed by said bulkhead for supplying suicient energy forcibly to move said keeper and thereby cause ejection of the article from the airplane; tiring means for detonating said cartridge; and spring means constantly acting on said keeper and urging it to hold said spherical detents in engagement with said outer tube until such time as the resistance offered by said spring means is overcome either by manual movement of said knob away from said external tubes closed end or by the gas pressure supplied by said cartridge, whereupon the keeper is moved enough to allow said detents to become disengaged from said external tube and said internal tube then moves from said external tubes open end with consequent release of the article from the airborne object.

2. A device for releasing an article from a space traversing object, comprising: a first tube adapted for mounting in the space traversing object; a cap substantially closing one end of said iirst tube; a bulkhead inside said first tube so as to partition that tube into two selectively sized compartments, said bulkhead having a plurality of bleeder openings therethrough forming passagcways betweenthe compartments; a second tube slidably fitting inside said first tube through that tubes open end with the formers trailing end attached to the article to be released fromV the space traversing object; a plurality `of spherical detents in said second tubes wall near its'leadving end inside said first tube, said spherical detents pro'- jecting from said second tubes exterior surface into selectively releasable engagement with said rst tubes interior surface; a rod slidably extending through said cap and through said bulkhead; a knob connected to one end of said rod outside said cap; a keeper connected to the other end of said rod, said keeper being slidably accommodated within said second tube to contain said spherical detents in engagement with said first tube and thereby prevent relative axial movement between said first and second tubes and resultant release of the article from the space traversing object, but further being selectively position able by movement of said knob away from said cap to permit said spherical detents to become disengaged from said first tube and thereby allow relative movement between said first and second tubes so as to release the article from the space traversing object; an explosive cartridge mounted within one of the compartments formed by said bulkhead for supplying suicient energy forcibly to move said keeper and thereby cause ejection of the article from the space traversing object; ring means for detonating said cartridge; and spring means between said bulkhead and said keeper, said spring means constantly urging said keeper to hold said spherical detents in engagement with said rst tube until such time as the resistance offered by said spring is overcome either by manual movement of said knob away from said cap or by the gas pressure supplied by said cartridge, whereupon said keeper is moved enough to allow said detents to become disengaged from said iirst tube and said second tube then moves from said first tubes open end to release the article from the space traversing object.

3. In a device for releasing an article from an airplane, the combination of: an outer tube adapted for mounting in the airplane; a cap substantially closing one end of said outer tube; an inner tube slidably fitting inside said outer tube through that tubes open end with the formers trailing end attached to the article to be released from the airplane; a plurality of spherical detents in said inner tubes wall near its leading end inside said outer tube, said spherical detents projectings from said inner tubes exterior surface into selectively releasable engagement with said outer tubes interior surface; a rod slidably extending axially through said cap; a knob connected to one end of said rod outside said cap; a keeper connected to the other end of said rod, said keeper being slidably accommodated within said inner tube to containV said. spherical detents iny engagement` with said outer tube and therebyprevent relative axial movement between said` inner and outer tubes'and resultant release of the article from the airplane, but further being selectively positionable by movement of said. knob away from said cap to permit said spherical detents to become disengaged from said outer tube and thereby allow relative axial movement between said inner and outer tubes so as to release the article from the airplane; spring means for constantly maintaining the keeper in position to hold said spherical detents Vin engagement with said. outer tube; an explosive cartridge attached to said keeper for supplying suicient energy forcibly to eject said keeper from. said inner tube and subsequently cause ejection of the article from the airplane; a tiring pin in said rod. for acting on said explosive cartridge to cause release of its energy; resilient means constantly urging said tiring pin to act on said explosive cartridge; and a safety pin through said ring pin to prevent that pin from acting on said explosive cartridge, but said safety pin beingi selectively removable from said tiring pin to permit the pins action on said explosive cartridge; whereby the article can be released from the airplane in one of two optional manners,V the rst manner being by movement of said knob away from said cap thereby to move said keeper and permit said spherical detents to become disengaged from said outer tube so that said inner tube can move from said outer tubes open end and the article attached to said inner tube can. move from the airplane, the second manner being by extraction of said safety pin from said tiring pin whereupon said ring pin moves to act onv said explosive cartridge to evolve gases whose pressure moves said keeper so as to permit. said spherical detents to become. disengaged from said outer tube, and'said inner tube is moved from said outer tubes open end by the action of the gas pressure against the article to be released from the airplane so that the article is forcibly ejectedl therefrom.

4. The device of claim 3 additionally including as part of the combination a bulkhead inside said outer tube so as to partition it into two selectively sized compartments in one of which the explosive cartridge is mounted, whereby the overall capacity of. the device is reduced to a minimum so that the size of the cartridge likewise can be held to a minimum and yet allow formation of sufcient gas pressure toV effect release of the article from the airplane.

5. The device of claim 3 additionallyV including as part of the combination a plate on the. knob for retaining the ring pin spring in the rod.

References Cited in the tile of this patent. UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,466,980 Bronson Apr. 12, 1949 2,489,984 Shoemaker Nov. 29, 1949 2,541,087 Musser Feb. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 64,663 Austria Apr, 25,v 1914 293,144 Italy Feb. 12, 1932 979,155 France Apr. 23, 1951 

